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• march
  march

  verb (used without object)

  to walk with regular and measured tread, as soldiers on parade; advance in step in an organized body.
• March
  March

  noun

  the third month of the year, containing 31 days. Mar.
• March.
  March.

  abbreviation

  Marchioness.
• M.Arch.
  M.Arch.

  abbreviation

  Master of Architecture.
• MArch
  MArch

  abbreviation

  Master of Architecture

march

¹ American  

[mahrch] / mɑrtʃ /

verb (used without object)

1. to walk with regular and measured tread, as soldiers on parade; advance in step in an organized body.

2. to walk in a stately, deliberate manner.

   The graduates marched to the front of the auditorium to the music of “Pomp and Circumstance.”

3. to engage in a procession organized as a demonstration of protest or support (sometimes followed byon ).

   During the trade talks, thousands marched in support of farmers and the farming industry.

   Municipal workers marched on city hall to protest cuts in garbage collection.

4. to move aggressively toward a place in preparation for confrontation or battle (followed byon ).

   The angry mob marched on the Bastille.

5. to go forward; advance; proceed.

   Time marches on.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cause to march.

   He marched his troops along the Niagara River toward Buffalo.

noun

1. the act or course of marching.

2. the distance covered in a single period of marching.

   The edge of the desert is three days' march away.

3. forward movement; advance; progress.

   The unrestrained march of science and technology may have some alarming social consequences.

4. a piece of music with a rhythm suited to accompany marching.

5. a procession organized as a demonstration of protest or support.

   There were antiwar marches in major cities across the nation.

   On July 29 there will be a march for universal healthcare.

idioms

1. on the march, moving ahead; progressing; advancing.

   Automation is on the march.

2. steal a march on, to gain an advantage over, especially secretly or slyly.

march ² American  

[mahrch] / mɑrtʃ /

noun

1. a tract of land along a border of a country; frontier.

2. marches, the border districts between England and Scotland, or England and Wales.

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verb (used without object)

1. to touch at the border; border.

March ³ American  

[mahrch] / mɑrtʃ /

noun

1. the third month of the year, containing 31 days. Mar.

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March ⁴ American  

[mahrch, mahrkh] / mɑrtʃ, mɑrx /

noun

1. Francis Andrew, 1825–1911, U.S. philologist and lexicographer.

2. Fredric Frederick McIntyre Bickel, 1897–1975, U.S. actor.

3. Peyton Conway 1864–1955, U.S. army officer (son of Francis Andrew March).

4. German name of the Morava.

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March. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Marchioness.

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M.Arch. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. Master of Architecture.

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march ¹ British  

/ mɑːtʃ /

verb

1. (intr) to walk or proceed with stately or regular steps, usually in a procession or military formation

2. (tr) to make (a person or group) proceed

   he marched his army to the town

3. (tr) to traverse or cover by marching

   to march a route

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noun

1. the act or an instance of marching

2. a regular stride

   a slow march

3. a long or exhausting walk

4. advance; progression (of time, etc)

5. a distance or route covered by marching

6. a piece of music, usually in four beats to the bar, having a strongly accented rhythm

7. to gain an advantage over, esp by a secret or underhand enterprise

march ² British  

/ mɑːtʃ /

noun

1. Also called: marchland.  a frontier, border, or boundary or the land lying along it, often of disputed ownership

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verb

1. (intr; often foll by upon or with) to share a common border (with)

March ³ British  

/ mɑːtʃ /

noun

1. the third month of the year, consisting of 31 days

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March ⁴ British  

/ març /

noun

1. the German name for the Morava

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March. ⁵ British  

abbreviation

1. Marchioness

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MArch ⁶ British  

abbreviation

1. Master of Architecture

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march More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing march

• steal a march on

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Usage

What happens in March? March is the third month of the year. It follows February and is followed by April. It has 31 days. March is notable because it is one of the two times a year when an equinox occurs. Around March 20–21, the vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal equinox marks the beginning of fall in the Southern Hemisphere. (The reverse happens around September 22–23.)In places where spring begins in March, the proverb March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb is used to refer to the fact that the month often begins with harsh winter weather that eventually gives way to mild spring weather. In the U. S., March also includes the day on which people in many places adjust their clocks for daylight-saving time by setting them an hour later. March is Women’s History Month and March 8 is International Women’s Day. In the U. S., St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17. The U. S. college basketball tournament known as March Madness starts in March. The word march is also a common word meaning “to walk in a military formation” or “to walk in a purposeful way.” It’s not related to the name of the month. Example: We had a blizzard last week and now people are walking around in shorts—that’s March weather for you.

Other Word Forms

• marcher
  noun

Etymology

Origin of march¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English marchen, from Middle French marcher, Old French marchi(e)r “to tread, move,” from Frankish markōn (unattested) presumably, “to mark, pace out (a boundary)”; see mark ¹

Origin of march²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English march(e), from Anglo-French, Old French, from Germanic; compare Old English gemearc, Gothic marka “boundary”; see mark ¹

Origin of March³

before 1050; Middle English March ( e ) < Anglo-French Marche; replacing Old English Martius < Latin, short for Mārtius mēnsis month of Mars ( Mārti-, stem of Mārs + -us adj. suffix)

Explanation

To march is to walk with deliberate, short steps that fall in a regular rhythm. You can take your time walking into school in the morning, or you can march right up the steps and through the door. People can march just about anywhere they walk, although the verb brings to mind military processions of soldiers who march in unison. Marching bands are another example of people who march together this way. You can also use the word when you're talking about a group of demonstrators who decide to march in protest or support of a particular cause. March comes from the Middle French word marcher, which originally meant "to trample," and later came to mean "to walk."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

march March March. MArch

Videos aired by Iran’s state broadcaster showed various social groups joining in the march, including what appeared to be a mass wedding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

In doing that, Moscow stole a march on its adversaries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

"We feel abandoned, and we believe this march is a way to express that, despite the passage of time, we have not normalized the violence and we want peace."

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

Speaking before the march, Simon Magorian, of Stand up to Racism Portsmouth, described the demonstrations in Eastney as a "horrible spectacle".

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Exhausted from the battle and the march, the British officers found the table set, just as Paul Jennings had left it.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

The Gunners were 2-0 down at the break and have not recovered to win from such a position in a league game since March 2008 at Bolton.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Yet according to a May 2026 Washington Post investigation, of more than 80,000 “voluntary departure” orders issued by immigration judges between January 2025 and March 2026, more than 70% involved people who were already detained.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

The spread between the two-year and the 10-year yields reached its narrowest level since March 2025 on Thursday, before widening slightly on Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

In March of this year, Fannie and Freddie announced new, stricter condo-financing standards that will require more scrutiny of a building’s finances.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

On March 14, 2008, he was invited into the presence of one of the biggest and most famous bullish investors in Wall Street banks, plus that of the illustrious former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

"The act came into force in the autumn and Ofcom gained powers to enforce in March. There doesn't seem to be any public information available on action taken against the platforms thus far."

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2025

“It’s March. You know it’s a good time of year, beautiful time of year,” Purdue guard Brandon Newman said, “and there’s going to be a lot of close games.”

From Washington Times ● Mar. 7, 2023

“That’s always a positive heading into March. We want to be playing our best basketball in March.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2023

“Something like this you’d have to buy pretty quickly, by March. And I’m not ready to buy by March.”

From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2023

“You three were so amazing at the benefit in March. Like professional dancers. Mrs. Atanabi was so impressed with how hard you worked, and how well you worked together.”

From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio

A review published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases in MArch analyzed 13 PrEP studies covering 5,000 participants.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 21, 2018